Subscribe To

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

As we sayfarewell to the Bush administration let us summarize the way he has ruined our country. And let us remind the future voters to pay more attention to their government and those governing from now on. For the responsibility of this terrible fiasco lies directly on those who voted this charlatan in. Bush and his Rasputin, Cheney, have done so much damage it's really hard to fathom how we let them get away with it. Our founding fathers gave us the tools to avoid this kind of governance, but Congress was complicit in this disaster and ignored the coming failure.

It is disheartening to know that Bush and Cheney will retire to their mansions and not have to suffer the consequences of their actions. They should be taken to the Hague for crimes against humanity. At the least, they sould have been impeached. Justice? Hell, there is no justice.

I realize that most of my followers read the NYT and have already seen this editorial by Bob Herbert, but for those who may have missed it I am copying it for your perusal.

You don’t hear much from him anymore. The last image most of us remember is of the president ducking a pair of size 10s that were hurled at him in Baghdad.

We’re still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel is thrashing the Palestinians in Gaza. And the U.S. economy is about as vibrant as the 0-16 Detroit Lions.

But hardly a peep have we heard from George, the 43rd.

When Mr. Bush officially takes his leave in three weeks (in reality, he checked out long ago), most Americans will be content to sigh good riddance. I disagree. I don’t think he should be allowed to slip quietly out of town. There should be a great hue and cry — a loud, collective angry howl, demonstrations with signs and bullhorns and fiery speeches — over the damage he’s done to this country.

This is the man who gave us the war in Iraq and Guantánamo and torture and rendition; who turned the Clinton economy and the budget surplus into fool’s gold; who dithered while New Orleans drowned; who trampled our civil liberties at home and ruined our reputation abroad; who let Dick Cheney run hog wild and thought Brownie was doing a heckuva job.

The Bush administration specialized in deceit. How else could you get the public (and a feckless Congress) to go along with an invasion of Iraq as an absolutely essential response to the Sept. 11 attacks, when Iraq had had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks?

Exploiting the public’s understandable fears, Mr. Bush made it sound as if Iraq was about to nuke us: “We cannot wait,” he said, “for the final proof — the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”

He then set the blaze that has continued to rage for nearly six years, consuming more than 4,000 American lives and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. (A car bomb over the weekend killed two dozen more Iraqis, many of them religious pilgrims.) The financial cost to the U.S. will eventually reach $3 trillion or more, according to the Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz.

A year into the war Mr. Bush was cracking jokes about it at the annual dinner of the Radio and Television Correspondents Association. He displayed a series of photos that showed him searching the Oval Office, peering behind curtains and looking under the furniture. A mock caption had Mr. Bush saying: “Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere.”

And then there’s the Bush economy, another disaster, a trapdoor through which middle-class Americans can plunge toward the bracing experiences normally reserved for the poor and the destitute.

Mr. Bush traveled the country in the early days of his presidency, promoting his tax cut plans as hugely beneficial to small-business people and families of modest means. This was more deceit. The tax cuts would go overwhelmingly to the very rich.

The president would give the wealthy and the powerful virtually everything they wanted. He would throw sand into the regulatory apparatus and help foster the most extreme income disparities since the years leading up to the Great Depression. Once again he was lighting a fire. This time the flames would engulf the economy and, as with Iraq, bring catastrophe.

If the U.S. were a product line, it would be seen now as deeply damaged goods, subject to recall.

There seemed to be no end to Mr. Bush’s talent for destruction. He tried to hand the piggy bank known as Social Security over to the marauders of the financial sector, but saner heads prevailed.

In New Orleans, the president failed to intervene swiftly and decisively to aid the tens of thousands of poor people who were very publicly suffering and, in many cases, dying. He then compounded this colossal failure of leadership by traveling to New Orleans and promising, in a dramatic, floodlit appearance, to spare no effort in rebuilding the flood-torn region and the wrecked lives of the victims.

He went further, vowing to confront the issue of poverty in America “with bold action.”

It was all nonsense, of course. He did nothing of the kind.

The catalog of his transgressions against the nation’s interests — sins of commission and omission — would keep Mr. Bush in a confessional for the rest of his life. Don’t hold your breath. He’s hardly the contrite sort.

He told ABC’s Charlie Gibson: “I don’t spend a lot of time really worrying about short-term history. I guess I don’t worry about long-term history, either, since I’m not going to be around to read it.”

The president chuckled, thinking — as he did when he made his jokes about the missing weapons of mass destruction — that there was something funny going on.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

A funny thing happened on the way to my blog. I had copied some humorous cartoons and they appeared after I posted them. The next day I returned to this spot and found that they had jumped ship. Does anyone know why this happened? I did save them, I thought.

You will not be able to see the elder stereotyping after all. They are not flattering and share a demeaning streak like the dumb blond jokes that are so prevalent these days. I guess if we can't laugh at ourselves once in awhile there is no hope for us.

I think people get too uptight at times. I have never had a problem with a joke at my expense unless it had a underlying vicious intent. My ex son-in-law teased me a lot and I took it in the spirit it was intended. There was no cruelty meant behind his teasing.

This is not the post I meant to write for my first venture. My disappearing cartoons got me off on another tangent entirely. I think it's really time to put this to rest. I will be back with more on medical care reform when I can gather my wits.

Friday, December 26, 2008

I meant to add this to yesterday's post. I thought you might like to see a photo I took of Kevin Costner's parents.

This was taken fourteen years ago at a Costner family reunion in Fresno, California.

They are really down to earth people, very friendly and warm. I liked them a lot.

Needless to say, Kevin did not attend the reunion. When you are famous you don't want a bunch of relatives to pester you. He did send autographed photos for all of us, however.

This is the last day my son will be here so I shall keep this post short and spend the rest of the quality time with him. He has been a real gem, cooking yummy meals, cleaning and repairing a few things for me. I will miss him terribly after he leaves.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

For a while my posts will be short, but not sweet. I am still having to limit my computer time as I tire very quickly.

One thing I learned from my recent hospitalization and rehab stay is that communication is sadly lacking in the medical system. To illustrate this I will tell you how my last name served a worthwhile purpose.

You have all heard of the actor, Kevin Costner. Very often when people hear my name they want to know if I am related to him. At times it's fun to say I'm his mother, but when I tell the truth that my late husband was distantly related, they are impressed. I find this to be ridiculous, but so be it.

When I checked into rehab the woman who took my information was extremely excited to learn that they had a Costner in their midst. It seems that Kevin is her favorite actor. Later that evening she was telling everyone in the office about me. It so happens that my primary care physician had stopped in to get the room number of another patient there and overheard the conversation. He asked what was the first name of the Costner patient. When they told him my name he said, "That's my patient." and took over my care from that point on.

Up until that moment not a single person who took my records bothered to inform him that I was in the hospital, even though his name was on my HMO card and the information that he was my primary care doctor was given.

I later discovered that this was a small example of the compartmentalization that occurs in the entire medical system. If it isn't their job the information goes over their head into outer space and never gets reported to the proper person. At times it can be very frustrating.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

My first post is to thank all of you kind people who called me, sent cards and notes, and e-mails with good wishes for my recovery from my fall. I want you to know that, even though I am tardy in responding, it meant more to me than you will ever know. I consider you my Internet family and am deeply appreciative of your kindness. I may not getting around to thanking you individually (although I will try), but please know that it is not for lack of appreciation.

I am still recovering and not up to writing a full post. To let you know that I am still here and kicking (but not very high) I am posting the following advice. I feel sure that many of you have read it before, but it bears repeating.